Breakfast Briefing: Tesla hires Joele Frank

Tesla has hired Joele Frank in the wake of Elon Musk's tweets. The agency confirmed it was hired by a special committee of Tesla’s board of directors for comms support following Musk’s tweets that he had secured funding to take the electric car company private.

John Schnatter has built a website for his battle to retake control of Papa John’s Pizza. The site is intended to "get the truth" to the public. SavePapaJohns.com links to legal documents, press releases and letters about Schnatter’s fight with the company’s board of directors. (Fox Business)

President Trump was in full denial mode after his former attorney Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to violating laws while paying off two women who claimed they had affairs with Trump. Cohen claims he did so at Trump's bidding. The president defended himself on Twitter Wednesday evening and early Thursday (Associated Press) and also gave an exclusive interview to "Fox & Friends" Thursday morning. (Fox News)

Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler is drawing the line on Trump’s use of his music. Tyler had his lawyer send a cease and desist letter to Trump over the use of the song "Livin’ On The Edge." Tyler insists it’s not about Trump’s politics, rather he wants his music to be used for "causes not for political campaigns or rallies." (Newsweek)

"The Mooch’s Table" a talk show featuring Anthony Scaramucci, former White House communications director, didn’t make the cut according to the New York Post. The paper said it got its hands on a promotional video Scaramucci was sending out to TV networks to promote the proposed show. In it, Scaramucci interviews Stormy Daniels’ lawyer Michael Avenatti, rapper Saigon and radio host and journalist Karen Hunter. (New York Post)